Postai és Távközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány Évkönyve, 1998
Rövid tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven
his every work unmistakably his own. His handling of every subject is gentle and affectionate, whether it be a stamp design for the 150th anniversary of the stamp, or portraits for the new series of banknotes depicting influential historical personages in the country’s economic life and financial affairs. Three times he has won the highest acclaim of stamp collectors for his work, The finest stamp of the year prize. The winning blocks were of Zoltán Kodály in 1982, the old town hall in 1983, and in 1991, a commemoration of Pope John Paul II’s his visit to Hungary. All three stamps were produced using his favourite technique, copper-plate engraving. His works have appeared in countless individual and group exhibitions, consistently evoking public and critical acclaim. He won the Derkovits Prize in 1967 and the Miklós Kis Tótfalusi Prize in 1981. In 1972, he was awarded 4th Prize at the 4th Warsaw Graphics Biennale and Gold Medal at the 3rd Florence Graphics Biennale. In 1977, tribute to his work was paid at the Attila József Memorial Exhibition by award of the Patriot Prize, and at the International Stamp exhibition in Bulgaria by the Graphics Gold Medal. At the national holiday celebration on 23 October 1998, he was honoured by the Small Cross of the Order of the Republic of Hungary, Civil Branch. In addition to stamp designs he also produces print graphics and banknote designs. All of us literally meet with his work every day: it was his fine creations that adorned the 100 Ft note released in 1983 and the 5000 Ft in 1990, and he was subsequently commissioned to design the latest series of paper money, in denominations of 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 10,000 Ft. Produced within the constraints of modem technical requirements, these are nonetheless works of major artistic merit. His life’s work is far from complete. Many tasks lie unaddressed, many thoughts await expression, many subjects remain to be formed by Károly Vagyóczky’s chisel. Nevertheless, the nearly 60 stamps, countless stamp designs, the occasional notepaper designs, book covers, engravings and his latest great work, the new Hungarian banknote series already bear witness to a fully-rounded artistic career, just as a statue takes shape under the chisel of the sculptor. Tünde Oláh: 100 years of the postal carriage service At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, postal carriage was still carried out by private carriers with horse-drawn coaches. In spring 1896 an epidemic broke out among the horses. Postal carriage had to employ rented horses, and a new approach was sought. The engineering section led by Endre Kolossváry proposed the use of motor vehicles. The Hungarian Royal Post Office recognised the potential of motor vehicles for postal carriage very early on, and by autumn 1896 trials were already under way. The private contractors could not keep pace with the increase in traffic, and so the Post Office took transport into its own hands. In 1898, a smithy and wheelwright’s workshop was set up in the building at Mátyás tér 15 to maintain vehicles for passenger and goods transport. The Central Repair Shop of the Royal Hungarian Post Office was rented from Vilmos Beer, knight of the realm and carrier to the imperial Post Office. The regular use of motor vehicle for collecting letters in Budapest started out in 1900. Twenty Peugeot three-wheeled vehicles were imported and two were manufactured by 251
